Echoes of Loved Ones
by Cathryn Arden
Summary: Sakura runs away with Sasuke to Orochimaru that fateful night, but all that awaited her was misery and heartache. Years later she becomes a spy for the Akatsuki during the fourth Shinobi war, when she becomes trapped in a cellar with a blonde Ninja.
1. Chapter 1

Hello this is my first fan fiction idea, in like, _forever_. Life over the past few years has been quite hectic, so there hasn't been the time to sit down and write anything. But that all changed with my new Nokia n97 mini, which has it's own keyboard , and word processor, and tinny keys which are suitable for my abnormally small hands (which must lunge across a normal sized keyboard). It's my new best friend.

But anyway, this story has been screaming out inside my head for ages, so hopefully if I just write it down it'll finally go away... maybe :)

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Haruno was the first to admit that she failed at life. Everything had been going _somewhat _fine until she became obsessed with Sasuke. Things went even better when they were placed on the same team. Everything would have been great,_ if_ she hadn't made the foolish decision to abandon the village and run off with him to Orochimaru.

To make a long story short, it didn't end well. There was anguish, pain, betrayal, lots and lots of blood. But eventually she managed to escape and join a nice peaceful clan of rogue ninja in the Rain country. It was nice while it lasted. Peaceful farming, peaceful ninja training, peaceful gun powder making. But then the whole _Fourth Great Ninja _war sprung up out of nowhere. Which for some reason seemed to involve every ninja on the continent.

This all led to her current predicament. She was stuck in the middle of a great shinobi war, trapped in the cellar of an abandoned house. But to top it all off, its current occupant was none other than a Konoha ninja. This could have been an avoidable situation if they weren't also surrounded by Akatsuki mercenaries who were gunning for their blood.

But Akatsuki wasn't what she was most afraid of. Sakura was a spy disguised as a civilian, but conveniently on their side. Her biggest fear was that the ninja across the room would discover that she wasn't a poor helpless civilian, but a shinobi working to undermine his village.

Even worse, he could realize that she was the missing nin Haruno Sakura.

It was hard to see his face clearly. He was half covered in mud and his hair was soaking wet and plastered to his face. He was wrapping what looked like explosive tags around kunais, one after another, in a hypnotic rhythm. Like her pounding heart, which she swore was going to explode any moment if she didn't get the hell out of there and away from a reminder of all her troubles.

_Why?_

_Why?_

Even though the cellar was huge,_ why_ did it suddenly feel so cramped? She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them. Her clothes were still damp from the rain which never stopped. He couldn't possibly recognize her right? She had gone to so much effort to continuously dye her hair black ever since Sasuke had scorned that pick hair wasn't suitable for ninjas.

If he came any closer and recognized her it was all over. She was certain that she had never met this guy, but they had posters and pictures for missing nins right? Living out this ghastly war had to be better than what lay in store for her if she was ever dragged back to that village. She had turned her back on everyone and joined the enemy, Sakura was a traitor.

She glanced up at him again. _Please god just go away._

_Why is time..._

_Going ever so slowly?_

Luckily the Konoha nin mistook her obvious anxiety as fear of what lay outside.

"There's no need to be afraid," he said in a tone that was obviously trying to calm her. I'm an S-class ninja, so there's no way I'm going to let you get hurt. I'll have you out of here soon."

Great, not only was she trapped in a room with a ninja that could lead to her execution, he also happened to be an S-ranked one. In the dim lighting it was possible to see that he was smiling, but it her panic Sakura mistook it for gloating.

He finished his tags and tossed all the kunai back in a bag. "What's your name?"

Sakura saw through his pathetic attempt to clam her. It was ninja 101 technique to engage in petty talk with civilians in order to put them as ease. She learnt that at the academy when she was ten years old.

"A-Aya," she said off the top of her head, in a voice shakier than expected. Aya had been the name of her last target. She had been a nice looking girl, but unfortunately she had been selling information to the enemy and that had to be stopped. It was ironic that she could also end up the same way in a matter of moments.

"Well _Aya, _ I promise I'll get you out of this alive and home safe," he paused for a second and looked around the dusty room. "Unless this is your house, which I'm sorry, cause I may have blown out one of the walls, and I think all those tremors are the enemy slowly tearing it apart, but on my way here I saw this awesome village which has some of the bes-"

Before he could finish the wall behind him exploded.

Sakura herself was shattered with debris, so it was safe to assume that he had become a corpse under the rubble.

But before she knew it she found herself swept off her feet and thrown over the shoulder of what she assumed must have been one of the Akatsuki. Except when she glanced down at his back, it was the leaf village spiral staring back. The Leaf ninja was carrying her over his shoulder.

"Wow that was a close one wasn't it miss."

They were also no longer in the cellar. He must have grabbed her when he dodged the explosion. From her current angle she also discovered that he was blonde. Sakura tried to weasel out of his hold, but he only grabbed on tighter.

"Seriously you have to stop panicking!"

_Oh my God, he's going to know, he's going to know and then I'll be dragged back to the Leaf and put on trial by the Hokage, and all my friends and family will know that I'm a dirty spy who's been trying to undermine them from the past year..._

"Konoha scum!" Yelled an Akatsuki.

With great effort she managed to manoeuvre her head around to see thirty mercenaries lined up before them, just waiting to pounce. Just like the United Ninja Army the mercenaries who worked for Akatsuki where ninja who decided to align themselves with the other side.

There were more than she expected. They were completely out numbered. She didn't have to worry about Konoha anymore because there was no way that she would survive this.

"Akatsuki trash," the Konoha ninja hissed back. "You're not so tough when you don't have your leader to back you up."

"Mandara's vision is the right one, he will bring peace to all the ninja world."

"Don't you cronies ever think of anything more original to say," he crouched down and carefully stood her on the ground. "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to put you down now, if you're patient I'll take you somewhere nice once I'm done."

"Hey wait!" she reached out and grabbed his sleeve. "There's no way that you can bet them, it's better if we surrender now." _Surrender now, so that I can explain that I'm on their side, and for you... that's just bad luck. _

He gently unpeeled her fingers from around his sleeve, and smiled as though to reassure her. "Don't worry, have a little faith," maybe it would have been more convincing if he had been clean and good looking, but he was filthy and his uniform had holes in several places. He already looked like he was half way to the grave.

Maybe she would die today after all.

She watched his back as he walked towards them. Sakura didn't really understand why, but she was suddenly overcome with a feeling of deja vu. She felt compelled to help him even though it would be fruitless. It seemed so cruel to let him go off and die for the sake of someone who was his enemy. When had she become a person who would allow such a thing?

She watched as he reached into his bag. She had seen him wrapping the explosive tags around kunai while they had been trapped in the cellar. Was he hopping for a last stand? There was no way that he could take them all out with what he had.

He grabbed a handful and threw them haphazardly into the crowd. Sakura's stomach dropped as she saw that his aim was bad, and most of them had missed. Either he had lied to her, or the standard of S-class ninja had certainly fallen since she was in Konoha.

But before she could yell out "I'm on your side, please don't kill me!" he disappeared.

For a moment she thought that maybe he had been knocked down by the Akatuki.

But there was suddenly a scream, and a ninja fell down.

Then another.

Then another.

She stared in bewilderment, wondering what had happened, before she caught a glance of the Konoha ninja appear, strike down a ninja, then disappear again, only to reappear again on the other side of the battlefield.

He moved so fast that her eyes could barely follow.

His speed was amazing.

Unheard of.

Almost like a flash of thunder.

And as soon as it had begun is was all over. All that was left was a single Konoha ninja standing alone amongst the bodies of the enemy. She almost cheered for him before she realized that he was the enemy, and that she could one day face him on the battlefield. The very idea sent a shudder down her spine.

"By god," she muttered. She knew that this war was full of scary people, but she had tried her best to avoid them until now.

And then he was suddenly standing before her, and he reached out his hand. She didn't remember taking it, but in a moment she was swept up in what felt like a whirlwind. She reached out and grabbed onto anything that could help steady her feeling of dislocation, which turned out to be the jacket of the man who she had been dreading only moments earlier.

As fast as it started it all stopped, and she could feel ground beneath her feet once more. She sighed in relief and looked up, only to realize that she had been clinging onto the Konoha ninja for dear life. Her face went red, and she pulled away as fast as possible. She stared at the ground and tried to avoid looking at him.

The Konoha ninja on the other hand was unfazed. Maybe he saved distressed maidens on a daily basis. "I'm sorry about everything Miss, but you should be safe from now on. This place is far from the war zone."

Sakura stared at him dumbly. She felt light headed and she was seeing double. _Wait, far from the war zone? _It was impossible to travel that far with simple transportation techniques, surely they were in an neighboring town.

She looked around for any familiar landmarks, and was surprised at the lack of rubble and decay. There were also people who didn't look like they were starving freely walking the streets. It was strange to find somewhere still so untouched, where people could walk so openly without the fear of attack.

_Unless..._

And then it hit her. "Hey wait a moment-"

But when she turned around he was gone.

All that remained was settling dust.

"This is the water country!" Yelled the voice of Haruto Sakura from halfway across the continent.

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Hello, I hope you enjoyed my story. There is actually a lot more to come, and you haven't seen the end of our two main ninja characters. I was originally going to have this story in one giant long chapter, but I though it might be better to break it all up so that I can past the different parts sooner. It's really going to focus on Sakura's defection to Orochimaru and the different consequences that it created, so it's going to be very interesting and character based.

You can encourage me to write faster by reviewing...hint...hint..hint...


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again. Thank you for all the lovely reviews :) I'm actually getting into the social media these days, so if you subscribe to my twitter I'll also post updates on there as well (You can find the link in my profile). I had a few questions. Basically this story is the same as the manga, the only difference is that Sasuke let Sakura run away with him.

I'm sorry that it's a bit shorter than chapter one, but I really wanted this chapter to stand alone. I've also upgraded the rating because they swear now. I'm sorry if it seems offensive, but if they don't swear it seemed a bit fake to me. I don't know, if you all think it's so much just say so.

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It seemed inevitable that they should meet once more. Even though Sakura would say that she hoped their paths never crossed again, deep down she had secretly wished for it. She wasn't sure why, maybe her hormones were compelled towards any stranger who seemed mysterious and cool. It was after all, what got her into this situation to begin with.

Like always fate delivered. Fate always seemed to give her whatever she wished for. Then screw it up, chuck it back in her face, and laugh at her misfortune.

Last time he had saved her.

But this time it was different.

_This time she was the enemy_.

"I see, so you're part of the Akatsuki."

He held his kunai to her throat, she could feel the cold metal on her skin. Last time he had been so patient and kind, but now he was seething killing intent.

_So this was how it was going to end._

She always thought that she would eventually die on the battlefield, but this was OK. Sakura always suspected that she would die by the hands of Konoha.

It was all right.

A shinobi should accept death.

Maybe it would be better if everything ended here and now.

If she was dead she wouldn't be living in this war any more, she wouldn't be burdened by the past, she wouldn't have to face the guilt of turning against her village. She could forget the memory of Sasuke walking away and leaving her to die.

She would finally free.

But although she expected the cold blade of the Kunai to slit her throat, the konoha ninja pulled away. She heard the familiar chink of Kunai against kunai as he slipped the blade back into his weapon's bag.

She hesitantly opened one eye, then the other. He was slightly cleaner than when they last met, but he was dripping water. Like he had been out in the rain only moments ago. He looked back at her with a gaze which appeared to be pity, then turned and began to walk away. Maybe he had suddenly decided that she wasn't worth it.

It was strange really. She hadn't wanted to die when she woke up that morning, but when it had finally been offered to her it seemed so appealing. She had been so close to the end and finally accepted it, only to be left hanging.

_The cruel bastard._

"What! Is that it! I finally had myself mentally prepared and everything, and now you're backing out," bust Sakura before she had time to consider her words. "Don't you dare pity me!"

He stopped and looked over his should towards her, his brow was narrowed in confusion. "Don't tell me that you wanted me to _kill_ you."

"Do you think my life in fun! Do you think that I fucking want to be here, I thought that I would be dead by now, but instead life just keeps going on and on. I want the fuck out of this world!"

He shook his head. "This war has made you mad,"he muttered. "Everyone is going mad, you don't really want to die. I took you to the water country for a reason, why did you come back?"

It was a good question actually. Why was she back here? It would have been nice to live out a peaceful existence in the countryside, but the war would eventually come. Better to face it now then let it creep up on her when she least expected it. It wasn't like she could go back to Konoha, so the Rain country was the next best thing that she had to a home. She had people here who she didn't want to let down. This place was the base of Akatsuki, Konoha and the United Ninja Army were the invading forces, they were the ones threatening to destroy it all.

"Because the rain country is my home," she replied.

The Konoha ninja sighed. He had most probably seen it all before. "I should kill you, but I won't, killing you won't achieve anything but more pain and suffering."

Sakura felt anger swell up and threaten to explode."You're full of crap, how can you talk about death and revenge when you killed all these people."

It was true. They were surrounded by bodies. Maybe twenty at most. She didn't really have time to count them. They were strewn all over the floor and furniture of the Akatsuki base. It had been a massacre in a matter of seconds. One moment Sakura had been waiting in line for food rations, the next he appeared out of nowhere, annihilating everyone around her. She only had time to step back in horror as everyone fell down, leaving her until last. His face so very dead cold, and eyes so blue and sharp. The Kunai so cold against her throat. She really thought that death had come knocking, but apparently it was a missed call.

"Kill them?" He laughed "I didn't kill them, I just knocked them out, I've never killed anyone. But I may have stabbed that one in the leg," he added as an afterthought.

Right on cue a man from across the room moaned out in pain and rolled over.

"_No way._" Sakura stared in horror. It was true though, there was no blood, no missing limbs. Just a room full of unconscious ninja. Did that mean that he hadn't killed anyone last time either?

"You can't be serious, you can't go through an entire war and _not_ kill anyone! It's just.. just.. impossible."

"Oh it's quite possible," he shrugged. "You _just _don't kill anyone."

_He's mad. _She suddenly realised. _The war must have driven him insane as well. _

"Are you fucking crazy! you can't win a war by not killing anyone, you can't just let the enemy go... it's called war for a reason!"

His eyes narrowed, and his tone dropped. "No one said war had to be this way! I will fight these battles _my way_, and I assure you that I will bring an end to this conflict _by myself_. I will stop the pain and bring peace to this country even if it kills me," he paused to take a breath. "And I will do so, _without_ killing a single person. I will break_ the circle of revenge._"

_Who does this guy think he is, a messiah or something._ She thought to herself. _Or just a pacifist?_ _But wait... what did he mean by "The circle of revenge"?_

She opened her mouth to ask, but he was clearly pissed off and eager to leave. He cut her off before she had the chance to say anything.

"Maybe you should consider my words. If your smart you should get as far away from this war, and do something better with your life instead of dying here, because I can _assure_ you that the next ninja who finds out you're a spy won't be as nice as me."

And with that he disappeared into thin air.

_Always disappearing this man._ _I should just call him the fucking disappearing man. Comes and goes as he pleases, talks philosophical crap as though he knows everything. Must be pretty easy to go through life not killing anyone if he can run away like that. The stupid coward doesn't know the pain the rest of us have to face._

Given that he was from Konoha there was always the possibility that they had met before, but he didn't seem familiar. She had never seen that technique before. It took a while to become a S-class ninja so surely he had to be older than her, possibly an upper-class man. Maybe they had even gone to the academy at the same time. But surly she would remember someone so irritating and full of themselves.

But _the circle of revenge, the circle of revenge... _The words went over and over in her head that night as she hobbled her way home.

What the fuck was _circle of revenge, _as if you could possibly survive a war without taking any lives?

She thought of all the people who she had killed to get this far and suddenly begun to wonder if it was all necessary. It wasn't like she had wanted to take their lives, she had only done it on orders, or to save the lives of herself or her friends. Any enemy allowed to get away could come after them when they least expected it.

_But it would be nice though. Not to kill anyone. _

The thought of someday coming across an old friend from Konoha made her sick to the stomach. Sakura was a hired spy so her chances of engaging in combat in were slim. But to be responsible for the death of an old friend was something she tried to shove to the crevices of her mind. It was possible that the war had taken their lives already. She sometime lay at night wondering how Kakashi-sensei, Ino. Shikamaru, Chouji and all of her academy friend would cope in the heat of battle.

For some odd reason she found herself thinking of Naruto for the first time in years. Sure he had improved since their graduation, but Naruto was foolish, spontaneous, emotion, and overly enthusiastic. There was no way he could have been able to survive on the battlefield. She could imagine him charging in like always, only to quickly meet his doom. He couldn't even beat Sasuke at the valley of the end.

No, she wouldn't think of Naruto.

If he ever became involved in this war, there was no way that he would survive.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter. In the next segment we're going to meet some new friends of Sakura, and find out how she's been living for the past few year. Naruto will also enjoy his own solo time before long as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello and welcome to chapter three. It's amazing that I've come so far. I'm usually not very dedicated. Hopefully you'll enjoy it.

I think that when you briefly know someone as a child, it can be difficult to recognise them once they're grown up, especially guys. That's my reasoning behind why Sakura does not recognise Naruto.

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"I see. So we haven't heard from you in the past week because you had to trek back here from the water country. And on the way back, you _again_ ran into this Konoha shinobi while you were at a base collecting funds."

Across the table sat Kazuo, the leader of the Rain shinobi clan which Sakura had joined after escaping the Sound country. He was also quite good looking, with a slight resemblance to Sasuke, which was probably why she had stuck around until now, _as stupid as that sounds._ But unlike Saskue, Kazuo was very dedicated to their cause, something that she respected very much about him.

She usually reported to him once a month to discuss her progress. This time they were in a small bar in the countryside. Sakura would have preferred to meet somewhere quieter. The barman was leering at her provocatively from across the counter, and they were surrounded by ninja twice her size. She swallowed her fear and tried not to let it show though.

"Yes, I think he tends to travel back and fourth all over the continent, he appeared out of no-where. He can do that you see," said Sakura.

"_Tsk. _Why do I have the feeling that this guy's gonna be troublesome," he leaned back in his chair."I'm amazed you made it back alive, good job Haru."

_Haru_, that was the name she had chosen as her new identity. Not exactly original. It came about one day when she began introducing herself, and suddenly realised that using her own name could alert hunter nins.

So _Haru_ it was. No last name, nothing more.

"Yes, it's a miracle I made it back alive." _Considering how I almost died that day. _She caught herself unconsciously rubbing her neck.

"But that's an amazing technique," he said as he poured himself a cup of sake. "If only someone like that was on our side. This war is really full of monsters. Apparently the Kazekaze even has the ability to control sand, last week he eliminated a thousand men in less than a minute. You should try to avoid that one at all costs."

"Yes," muttered Sakura. The Hidden Sand must have been desperate if they allowed that lunatic to become a Kage. She didn't want to tell him that she had already encountered the current Kazekage and personally experienced his frightening techniques. There wasn't much that Kazuo's clan knew about her past. That's what she liked about them, they didn't ask questions. They had accepted her without a second thought and treated her like family. So what if it rained everyday and they worshipped some god named Pain. They gave her the stability and support which she hadn't felt since leaving Konoha.

"What else did you observe about this person?" Kazuo asked.

Sakura racked her memory. It all happened so fast. "He was tall, and blonde, and from Konoha... I think," at the time she had been certain that he was a Konoha shinobi, but now she was beginning to wonder if her mind had been playing tricks in her panicked state."Also..." she wasn't quite sure how to put the ninja's rants about peace into words.

"Maybe I can ask some contacts about this guy." Kazuo pulled out a piece of scrap paper and began to jot down notes. "So blonde, Konoha, super fast lightening technique."

"Konoha's Yellow flash!"

Sakura jumped back in surprise to see an elderly man leaning over their table. He smelt bad, appeared half drunk, and Sakura got the overall impression that he was a hobo.

"Look Konoha's Yellow Flash!" he shouted. He leaned over the table and tried to shove a tattered book into Kazuo's face.

"Oi, get off!" protested Kazuo. He had his palm against the man's head and was attempting to push him way, much to no avail.

"Look right here, Konoha Yellow Flash, fifteen ryo dead or twenty alive. Where is he, I'll make a killing!"

"I don't know anything about any Yellow Flash!"

"Konoha's Yellow Flash?" questioned Sakura. The name seemed familiar but she couldn't place it. "Let me see that," she reached forward and grabbed the book that he was attempting to shove into Kazuo's face.

The hobo wasn't particularly pleased at having his book snatched away, and made a lunge for it before the owner of the bar finally interfered and yanked him away. The man struggled in the larger man's grip.

"I'm sorry about that, old Sato here hasn't got much left up 'ere," said the owner, pointing to his head. "He still hasn't realised that the last war's ended."

"Really, because I couldn't tell at all," muttered Kazuo sarcastically.

The man called Sato on the other hand, didn't pay much attention."But they know where the Flash is, they know where he is!"

"Yes we can ask them later," said the barman, leading him away. "Let's buy you a drink."

"I would have caught him me self, but with this leg of mine I just couldn't keep up with the tricky bastard, just kept flashing his way all over the place. But I'll get 'im this time," said Sato.

"Oh lovely," said Kazuo to Sakura. "Just what I need, more crazies. Yesterday I was almost mauled for a loaf of bread."

Sakura rubbed her temples. "Can we please pick somewhere quieter to meet next time, aren't we supposed to be spies."

"But the atmosphere here is so much better," said Kazuo as he took another drink.

_Only because you're becoming an alcoholic. _Thought Sakura. They all had their personal ways of dealing with the war. Kazuo had never tasted alcohol until a month after the war broke out. As composed as Kazuo seemed, he was sharing his own personal demons just like the rest of them.

"Is he in there?" asked Kazuo. Pointing down at the book she was still holding in her hands.

"Oh right," Sakura took a look down at the book. It appeared to be an old bingo book. It was tattered, warn, water damaged, and several pages were missing. "Yellow flash, Yellow flash," she flicked through the pages until she eventually landed on a page with a missing corner titled _ellow flash. _It had a rather crude drawing of a Konoha ninja, which bore some resemblance to the one she had encountered. It was rather detailed for a bingo book listing, it even included his hight and favourite foods. "_Namikaze Minato, a.k.a Konoha's Yellow Flash,_" she read out loud.

"Is that the guy?"

She squinted and looked at it sceptically. "They look a bit similar, but the face is different, he didn't look much older than us either, so either he looks really good for his age or it's a different guy," she began flicking through the other pages. "It doesn't say when this book was printed."

"If this guy sprung up in the last war he could be a relative of your new friend, clans usually share the same techniques."

"True," she muttered. "Namikaze Minato." _So then that guy would be Namikaze-san right?_

"Do you mind if I borrow this," Kazuo reached out for the book and she handed it to him. "I'll ask around and see what I can find out about this guy, try and workout how dangerous he really is. I don't forgive people who threaten my friends."

That was one thing about Kazuo that she appreciated, he looked out for all of them.

"Here, let me get you a drink, you've had such a harrowing journey," he put up his hand and waved to the barman. "Can we get another drink here." The barman nodded. The hobo from before also glared at him evilly. Probably still lamenting the loss of his bingo book.

Sakura opened her mouth to protest then stopped. It was dangerous not to be alert, they could be attacked at any moment. But her journey had been long and tiring, and because of her near death experiences in the last few days, she was beginning to feel invincible.

It was on the third drink that she finally popped the question that had been on her mind for days.

"Hey Kazuo, have you ever heard of something called _the circle of revenge?_"

"The circle of revenge?" he stared her blankly, clearly drunk. "What's that?"

Sakura averted her eyes to the table. She didn't know why, but the subject suddenly felt embarrassing. "It's something someone told me, I think it's some sort of philosophy where you don't kill anyone, or something, even if they're your enemy in war."

"Don't kill anyone? Did a priest tell you that sort of shit or something? Because you better not go around spouting nonsense like that, there was a guy in third division who suddenly turned pacifist, and they strapped him full of explosive tags and let him blow."

_So it is impossible after all, _she thought to herself. She began rubbing her neck nervously, and suddenly felt like a fool for bringing it up."It's just something I heard, on my way back here," she felt reluctant to add that it came from that mysterious Konoha shinobi.

"Circle of revenge, refusing to kill people," Kazuo scoffed, "As if that's ever going to amount to anything and win the war."

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"Achoo!"

At the same time, on the other side of the Rain country, sat the the subject of their conversation. He rubbed his noes woefully, and attempted to fight back another sneeze. It was unlike him to become ill. Maybe day after day in the rain was finally beginning to take its toll.

"One Miso ramen," said the stand owner, as he sat the bowl down with a chink.

Naruto felt his mouth water as he stared down at the noodles neatly arranged in the broth. Despite how small and dingy the Rain country ramen stand appeared, its food was delicious. He snapped his disposable chopsticks in two and dug in.

Naruto wasn't the type to drown his sorrows at a bar, instead he trained, or ate ramen. Considering how hungry he was, today he chose the second option. Although the manager of the stand was starting to catch on after he rocked up every day for the last week, and devoured ten bowls a sitting. Looking as though he was ready to jump off a cliff.

The owner stared at him woefully as he pretended to wipe down a pot that obviously didn't need cleaning. Watching Naruto as though he suddenly expected him to shove his own chopsticks through his heart and end it all.

That was the advantage of being away from Konoha. The enemy didn't expect him to look happy. The enemy didn't harass him, or shower him with concern if he wasn't his normal bright perky self. The enemy didn't know about his past.

That girl _Aya_, or whatever her real name was, had such green eyes. Green like Sakura's. Although he never intended to kill her, he had planned to threaten her more. As mean as it seemed it would have been for her own good. But then he took one look into those green eyes and he lost the will to do it. She reminded him too much of Sakura.

Not a day went by when he didn't think of them. Sakura and Sasuke. Their images still danced around head as lively as the days when they were together. In his mind they were still happy team seven, but reality was a lot crueller. He barely saw Kakashi-sensei from the day the third awful war broke out. Sasuke had changed into an existence of hate and revenge, that used his friend's body like a shell. And Sakura? Sakura could never be saved, she wasn't even in this world any more.

In the beginning he had fooled himself into thinking that if he worked hard, he could obtain the power to make things go back to the way they were. But he was a fool. Such a stupid fool who lived in his own little world detached from reality.

He still remembered the day they found Sasuke. He had the nerve to lecture Sai on friendship and eternal bonds, but when Sasuke stood above that crater looking down on them, he felt his body freeze. Then Sasuke uttered the few word that still echoed in his dreams

_"Sakura? Such a nuisance, everyday pestering me to leave and go back to Konoha. I should have left her there, I'm almost glad to see her dead."_

_He wouldn't believe it, surely Sasuke had to be lying. There was no way that Sasuke could possibly hurt Sakura._

"_Sasuke! Where is Sakura?" He shouted._

_But Sasuke just stared down at him, completely unfazed. "Poor Naruto, still as stupid and thick as always. I said she's dead you fool."_

Something had died within him that day. He wasn't sure what, but in an instant he had lost the will to fight. He collapsed in a heap and watched motionless as Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Kabuto made their get away. Sasuke escaped that day, just like he escaped everyday that they clashed.

The day after they returned to the village Kakashi-sensei had told him to stay at home. Naruto had tried, but as soon as he started walking home the feeling of anxiety in his chest just grew with every step. So instead he hid in the shadows around the corner of her house. Waiting for Kakashi to break the news of Sakura's death to her parents.

It wasn't pretty. He could imagine what was going on inside when the sound of wailing emerged from the window. Sakura had been their only child. They had waited so long for any news, and then when it comes…...

_"Naruto."_

_He had planned to leave before Kakashi emerged. He had the route planned out in his head. Up the wall and then over the roof tops. But for some reason he couldn't will his feet to move._

_His old teacher sighed."Maybe we should go have a talk."_

_They walked for a while, until eventually they reached the place where Sakura had brought him on their only date. He wanted to tell Kakashi that it was on that very bench, three years ago, that he had reassured Sakura that Sasuke was going to be OK. Maybe if he had done something different back then, she would have gone home. Instead she spent the night waiting for him to pass by._

_He fought the urge to cry. He would do it at home later, not while someone else was watching._

_"I'm sorry Naruto."_

"_There's no need to apologise Kakashi-sensei," he mumbled. "It wasn't your fault." It was mine for driving Sasuke over the edge, and failing to stop Sakura from blindly following him. _

_Although he had liked her so much, he had always known that she only had eyes for Sasuke. She would have followed him to hell and back. The day he and Sasuke fought at the Valley of the End, he had seen a glance of her from behind a tree. Watching on anxiously, most probably cheering for Sasuke so that they could run off together. She had see him use the Kyuubi's power as well. She probably died thinking that he was a monster._

_If only he had been stronger, if only he had worker harder instead of stupidly fooling around. If he had won that day, then he wouldn't be in this stupid situation, standing in front of a stupid bench, talking with Kakashi-sensei about Sakura's death. _

_Kakashi was oblivious to Naruto's mental tournament. He also didn't expect that it would continue up until the present day._

_"I think that unlike you Sakura couldn't directly face Sasuke, so she tried to bring him back in her own way. Sakura was a shinobi who gave her life to protect Konoha."_

_A week later the decision was made to carve her name into the hero's monument. He remembered lingering behind everyone else at the ceremony, afraid that if her sobbing parent's caught sight of him their sadness would turn to rage. But instead when they passed him, her mother grabbed his hand and held it between her own. She had stopped sobbing, but tears still ran down her checks._

_"Thank you so much Uzumaki Naruto."_

He thought he would hate Sasuke, but Naruto just felt numb. Part of him wanted to avenge Sakura, but the rest of him just wanted his old friend back. So he found himself caught in the midway point. Unable to hate, yet unable to forgive. Just stuck hating his own powerlessness and inaction.

In the present day Naruto lay his bowl down with a chink, and attempted to shake the ghosts of the past out of his mind.

He wasn't the type to lament while eating. Maybe it was the constant rain that was making him miserable.

He lay his chopsticks down on the rim of the bowl. "Thank you, it was delicious."

(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. So many questions. Why is Naruto trekking around the Rain country by himself? Will Kazuo find out the truth? What really went down between Sakura and Sasuke? All that and more in the next chapter, or two, or three, or whenever I write the scenes.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm sorry that it took so long to update. I've been out there in the big wide world having a social life. I also revamped by homepage if you want to take a look.

I went back and also fixed some of the spelling and grammar mistakes of earlier chapters. I was a bit shocked, I must be dyslexic. I usually have to not read it for a while in order to pick them up, there's probably a lot here as well that I've failed to see.

Being a fellow Naruto fan I read the manga, and I am aware that recent developments could impact this story. But it is AU after all.

(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)**(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)**

When Kazuo sent a message saying that he wanted to meet, Sakura assumed it was to bring her bad news. There had been a surprise attack in the south where a friend of theirs, a small kunichi named Tomo, had been stationed. Sakura assumed that he was here to inform her that Tomo was now spattered across the south sector. It was therefore a relief to see Kazuo's smile when she walked into the roadside café. There was usually no smiling when someone was dead.

"Any updates?" he asked.

"Nothing much." replied Sakura. "The locals are continuing to support Akatsuki, some of them even believe that Madara is a reincarnation of Pain-sama, or someone sent by him to lead us all onto the righteous path."

"_Hmp_," muttered Kazuo. "Those hicks come up with new crap everyday don't they."

Sakura saw this as a possible insult against Mandara. "But I thought you were in favour of Mandara?"

"Don't get me wrong. I'm prepared to support Akatsuki till the end. Once Madara completes his eye of the moon plan, he will eradicate conflict once and for all. But he's nothing like Pain-sama."

"Yes perhaps that's true," noddled Sakura. She didn't have the same blind dedication as Kazuo, and Madara didn't mean anything to her. But where ever Kazuo and his clan went she would go, and who ever they supported she also support. Sakura gasped as she suddenly remembered why she had rushed there in the first place. "Hey Kazuo, Tomo is she..?

"Tomo? she checked in yesterday. Apparently she escaped the sneak attack and is travelling with a refugee group."

Sakura sighed in relief. She didn't know what she would do if she had to face the loss of another friend. But if Tomo was OK, why had he suddenly contacted her and demanded they meet immediately. "You said that you had news for me?"

"Oh that I do" a grin broke out across his face. He ruffled around inside his jacket pocket, pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to her.

She reached out and took it. On closer inspection it turned out to be a worn looking photograph. She was surprised to see the face of the mysterious Konoha-nin staring back at her.

"Is this your guy?" he asked.

It was pretty hard to forget that face when he had been holding a kunai to her throat.

"Yes this is him, what did you find out?"

"Well," he began. "Turns out this guy's more well know around here than we thought. I remember reading about him on the Akatsuki's most wanted list. I should have made the connection earlier, but I had to ask a few people to make sure. It turns out that guy in the bingo book was actually the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, this guy is his only son, Uzumaki Naruto."

Sakura had to do a double take. She was certain that she had misheard him. "I'm sorry, what did you say his name was?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," he repeated.

Sakura felt like laughing. Surely he had to be joking. Uzumaki Naruto was the name of her old dead last team-mate, and he certainly wasn't the child of any Kage. The only thing that he, and this man, had in common were their blonde hair, blue eyes...

And the exact same funny looking face...

"Oh my god." She felt the blood drain from her face.

Kazuo noticed the sudden change in her expression. "What's wrong Haru, do you know this guy?"

"No," she replied a little too quickly and sharply, and she realized immediately how suspicious she sounded. "It's just such a... funny name."

"Oh yes, now that you mention it, it is a pretty stupid name, who would honestly call their kid Naruto."

Sakura felt anger shoot through her. She felt tempted to shout _don't you dare insult my friend!_ Before she quickly realised that she, and Naruto, probably stopped being friends the day that she ran away. It had been so many years. He had probably moved on and forgotten about her. Otherwise he would have recognised her when he saved her life. They had stood face to face and he had treated her like a stranger.

She forced an uneasy laugh.

"Anyway, this guy has apparently been travelling all over the country abducting high rank Akatsuki members."

"Oh," It all made sense now. That was why he had been at the Akatsuki base.

"So obviously we've been ordered to kill him."

_Oh kill him, so we're going to kill..._

"Wait, kill him!" replied Sakura stunned. "Is he really that dangerous that we have to _kill_ him!"

"What did you think we were going to do, let this slide? It's dangerous when he's abducting generals and leaving them in rural mountain ranges, or in the middle of deserts, the entire chain of command is slowly falling apart, we can't allow this to continue."

_Kill Naruto, we're going to kill Naruto?_

"Wait Kazuo, don't you think that maybe this one is a bit above us. We can't take this guy, I've seen him in action, we're not on the same level." _Please don't make me do this, please don't make me do this. _She thought.

"Of course you're right as always Haru, this guy's probably too much for the two of us."

_Oh thank God._

"That's why we're going to hire someone to do it for us," he said with a wink.

_That still involves murder!"_Hire someone?"

"Yeah hire someone," he repeated. "Obviously it's not our job as spies to assassinate people. I'm no good at it, and although you're pretty good at mixing poisons, he's already seen your face, so you can't slip him anything. That's why we're going to pay someone to do the job for us."

_Wait Kazuo. _She thought, but she couldn't find the right words to deter him. Somehow she had to find a way to try and talk him out of doing this. She hadn't been directly responsible for the deaths of any of her old friends, and she certainly didn't want to start today.

(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)

It was like someone had finally breathed the life back into Kazuo. For the past year or so he'd been pessimistic and bitter, but as soon as the opportunity to kill a Leaf ninja appeared, Kazuo went on the hunt for assassins like a man on a mission.

It felt strange that they were assassin shopping for Naruto. If someone had told her this was going to happen yesterday, she wouldn't have believed them. Maybe this was some sort of vicious circle of team Seven. Sasuke tried to kill her, and now it was her turn to kill Naruto. Maybe if he survived this, he could do her a favour and stab Sasuke in the back.

It seemed stupid that she hadn't realised earlier. The blonde hair, blue eyes, the funny looking face. It was just difficult for her mind to make the connection between the boy who screamed _Hokage_, and the man who said he was going to end all war. But now that she thought about it, they were both outrageous ideas. Maybe he hadn't changed so much after all.

"Haru! Hey Haru!," yelled Kazuo, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Geez what's with you today, now is not the time to start day dreaming."

"I'm sorry," said Sakura as she adjusted her bamboo hat. It was too big for her head, and occasionally it slipped and she was splashed with rain.

"Well, we're here now anyway," he said while pointing to a decrepit looking shanty with the word _bar _painted above the door frame. "Just don't let your guard down once we go inside, I heard they have some dangerous types in this place."

She followed Kazuo inside like a zombie, her previous chain of thought re-emerged in her mind. _The only child of the Forth Hokage_? Why hadn't anyone ever said anything. But it did explain why he didn't have any parents and lived alone. But why were all the teachers had so harsh on him during their academy days. Surely they would respect the child of someone who saved their village. Unless they too hadn't known. He had been an irritating idiot back then.

What had possibly happened to make Naruto change so much? Had he finally decided to start reading his textbooks. Could he read all his kanji? Did he still go to the same Ramen stand every day for lunch?

Sure, Naruto had gotten _a bit _better before she left the village, but she would've never guessed that he had the potential to make S-class. Chunin at the most, maybe Jounin if he really worked hard at it.

"Hey Haru," she was brought back into reality by Kazuo yet again. "Geez again," he muttered. "This is the guy here, Yojimbo," he pointed to a large man with several scars and a missing eye, who was sitting across the bar. He was sipping on something dark and murky, which she assumed was alcoholic."He's really well known in these parts."

She took one look. Big, scary looking, lots of scars. Naruto had certainly gotten taller, but this man was still probably twice his size. He wouldn't be able to run if this guy sneaked up on him from behind.

Kazuo must have seen the worry on her face. "Don't worry Haru, I think this man can handle it."

_It's not him that I'm worried about._

"So anyway, I heard that you'll take on any case no matter how dangerous," said Kazuo to the man called Yojimbo.

"You got that right chump, I kill anyone if the price is high enough, and you pay up front."

"Great," Kazuo began ruffling though his bag for the photo he had shown Sakura earlier. "We're looking for someone who can kill this guy, his name is Uzumaki Naruto!"

The instant Kazuo said the name, Yojimbo chocked on his drink. He proceeded to cough for two minutes before he managed to yell."Are you insane!"

Sakura and Kazuo stared at him dumbfounded. "What? Is there some sort of problem?" asked Kazuo.

"You bet there's a problem if you honestly expect me to take down that guy."

"Why not? I was told that you've taken down a hundred guys twice as bad!"

"Are you serious, that's Uzumaki _fucking_ Naruto you're talking about! Have you guys lived under a rock for the past few years. Can you see this," he said, holding out his hand that was shaking. "This is stress, this is how I feel when I just think about the possibly of running into Uzumaki Naruto."

"Why are you so afraid, he doesn't even kill people?" asked Sakura._ There's no way that Naruto could really strike so much fear, maybe he's confused with someone else._

"No, but he's a thousand times worse. He gets inside your head, messes around, and makes you start feeling emotions. Like guilt and crap. He doesn't have to kill you, he'll just make you feel terrible to the point where you'll want to reform your ways and kill yourself."

Kazuo stared at him blankly. "I'm not sure what you mean by that."

He looked around, then leaned forward and beckoned for them to come closer. "Do you remember Pain, the guy who used to be the god of this country?"

"Oh course," replied Kazuo. "Everyone knows Pain-sama."

"Well apparently when he tried to destroy the Leaf, Uzumaki Naruto was the one who stopped him. Except Uzumaki didn't kill him. He just let that Pain guy kill himself instead."

"You are messing with us right?" said Sakura. "There's no way that one guy could have defeated Pain-sama." _Pain was like a god, there's no way that one person could defeat him alone, everyone knows that it was the whole village._

"Fine! You don't have to believe if you don't want to, but did you ever hear of the tyrant Mowiji in the North sector."

"Yeah, it sounds familiar," said Kazuo. "Wasn't he that guy who used to bury his enemies alive, he dictated that place for almost thirty years. That guy was nasty."

"Yeah but what you don't know is that Uzumaki beat him up, let him go, but he went home and seppuked himself."

"But I'm sure that's just a coincidence, right?" asked Sakura

"Coincidence, you don't honestly believe that's a coincidence do you. And there's more, have you ever heard of Ichi the killer!"

"Let me guess, he killed himself?" said Kazuo.

"No, but he became a monk, and now he's out the front there everyday collecting money and giving food to small children. Do you have any idea how much of a fucking waste of talent that guy is," he slammed the table. "That guy once killed a Kage! I do not want to end up like that. Oh and not to mention the current Kazekage, that guy used to be insane, and now he's a tree hugging peace lover."

_Is that true, did that guy Gaara really change? _Sakura still had nightmares about the day she was attacked by that sand ninja. He had been out of his mind and death obsessed, surely there was no way to change that.

"I don't understand, if this guy really did all those things then why haven't we been told about it?" said Sakura.

"What, do you think that your higher ups are really gone to tell you about the only ninja who could take down your boss. Let's stop and think about this children, it's bad for moral. They don't want to talk about it. They don't even say his name out loud in the fear that it will jinx them."

"Oh come on that's ridiculous," Sakura laughed, still obviously in denial.

"I'm sorry, but if you want to take out that guy, you're going to have to find someone a lot stupider than me. I'm out of here!" and with that he got up and left, slamming the door behind him.

Kazuo sighed and reached across the table for the drink that Yojimbo left behind. He took a sip and screwed up his face. "What is this crap, no wonder he came up with so much crazy shit if he was on this stuff."

"Some of it might be true though, although I highly doubt it," _That was all far too insane to be true, you can't possibly reform such terrible people like that. Maybe killing people has made him loose his mind. _

"Well that was helpful," said Kazuo. "I can't believe that nut job, come on Sakura lets go find someone who isn't crazy."

(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)

"Wait, are you talking about _the _ Uzumaki Naruto? Yellow flash, the only person on the continent that stands a chance of taking the Akatsuki down?"

"Yeah we were hopping that maybe we could pay you to kill him?" said Kazuo.

And it was then that the door was slammed in their faces.

It was still more optimistic than the last assassin they interviewed, who went to tears at the name _Uzumaki Naruto._

_Just look at me. I was once a famous assassin. I never felt anything about killing anyone, and now I feel guilt. My hands shake ever time I hold a kunai. I now sit in dirty bars looking to pick off war criminals. I don't know what I've done with my life, I've wasted so many years killing and killing, but in the end the only one that I really wanted to kill was myself._

Kazuo sighed and placed his bamboo hat back on his head. "What's with assassins these days, don't they have balls any more? Has the war already killed off all the good ones."

"Maybe we should go home. I'm not sure if it's wise to involve ourselves with this guy, maybe we should just forget about killing him."

"There you go again," he snapped. "It's almost like you're defending him, don't tell me that you like this guy!"

"It's not like that," she protested. "I'm just thinking about us, and the safety of us all."

"_Saftey, _are you deaf? Didn't you hear what that guy _Yombo the killer_ or _Yobimbo_, or whatever his fucking name was, said? The guy is a pacifist, what's he going to do, guilt us to death, we haven't got anything to lose here, so we might as well take a stab at him while we have the chance."

"But," _what can I possibly say to avoid this situation. _"Can we just stop and think about this for a moment! It's not like we're mercenaries, it's not our job to kill this guy. Yes, he may be the enemy, but is what he does such a bad thing, making terrible people repent. Didn't you hear about that tyrant, and the crazy assassin. Since when is that a war crime!"

"What? So you're saying we should just let this guy go and kidnap every decent solider on our side, and drop them into the dessert! Are you mad! We can't let him go. Have you forgotten that he killed Pain-sama!"

_Ah_ she thought in her head. _So that's the reason you're so obsessed with killing this guy._

"So you're looking for revenge now? You think that killing this guy will make you happy or something. Pain's gone now, nothing is going to bring him back," she cringed as she realised she'd forgotten to add _sama_ to his name.

Luckily Kazuo was too mad to notice, otherwise he would have scolded her. "It's not revenge, it's justice! This entire country went to hell ever since he stopped protecting us all!"

Sakura opened her mouth to find fault with his words, until she realised that she couldn't think of anything smart or sensible to say. As crazy as it sounded this entire war has begun after the death of Pain. She didn't want to think that maybe Naruto has caused their entire predicament, but she didn't have any way of knowing if he hadn't. "But, but," she waved her finger at him, waiting for a smart answer to suddenly burst fourth.

Kazuo took one look at her pained expression and his anger deflated. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed.

"Look, just go home Haru, I don't want to argue with you. I 'll keep searching and contact you in the morning."

She considered protesting. Maybe if she stayed she could try and talk him out of it, but Kazuo had always been so set in his ways when it came to Pain. To try and reason with him now would only lead to more fighting. Besides, it seemed like he wouldn't find a ninja willing to kill Naruto anyway.

"Fine," she muttered bitterly.

(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)

In her dreams she was fourteen again. She had been so ignorant back then. Even if most of her hopes and dreams had already been crushed by Orochimaru, she still foolishly believed that a better future existed for her. As long as she had Sasuke, everything would be fine. After Sasuke defeated his brother, then surely he would return to his old self.

That morning he had asked her to go for a walk together. He had been so distant recently, so she jumped for joy at the offer. Maybe he had finally realised what an arse he had been and decided to change.

They were walking along the road on a warm Autumn day. Leaves fell from the trees in the breeze. It would have been a date if Kabuto hadn't decided to come along. She felt slightly irritated when he invited himself, but he was walking a good few feet behind, so she could imagine that he wasn't there at all.

Yes, it was just her and Sasuke, walking together like a couple. Maybe this could become routine. Maybe they could walk together every morning. Maybe he would start to open up to her more, and let her into his heart.

Suddenly Sasuke stopped and turned towards her. Sakura felt excitement well up in her chest. Maybe this was the moment when he would finally confess, just like in all the romance novels she had read as a child together with Ino.

She felt giddy. She was too caught up in her own foolish fantasies to realise what was going on around her. Maybe if she had been more in touch with reality she may have noticed his cold eyes and bank expression. She would have noticed him reach for his sword and pull it out from its sheath.

All of a sudden her chest felt warm. She thought that maybe it was just her heart beating rapidly from all the excitement.

But she looked down to see Sasuke's sword halfway through her abdomen.

"_Why_?" she whispered

"Because you're not needed any more."

It wasn't him. It couldn't be him. Sasuke had been an arsehole at times, but he wasn't a murder.

She wanted to see the old Sasuke again. The one that used to smile and help them out when they were in trouble. But she had to stop lying to herself. That Sasuke wasn't standing before her.

Everyday that they had spent together along with Orochimaru she could feel him slipping further and out of her finger tips. He had grown colder, meaner, he began to look out only for himself and no one else mattered. Well except only Itachi. Sasuke's hate was one of few things that kept him going. Sakura has mistakenly thought that if she left with him, if he had someone who loved him, then maybe he would be saved and eventually come to love her back.

She had been such a fool.

It was her ignorance that led her to this moment.

That Sasuke was now dead.

And soon she would be too.

"_Sasuke-kun_," she whispered.

He removed his sword.

She crumbled face first to the ground. More from shock than pain. She reached out her hand towards him. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe he would suddenly realise what he did was wrong and try to save her.

"_Sasuke-kun_."

But he was cold and oblivious as always.

He turned and joined Kabuto who was standing there waiting. She thought that after all the time they spent together experimenting on Orochimaru's lab rats, that Kabuto would at least care. But his face was as blank and emotionless as ever. She always thought he was a sadist.

Sakura couldn't help wishing that he would turn and comeback. That this moment wasn't real, that there was something she could do to reverse it all. He couldn't just leave her like this to die...

_Could he?_

Her vision blurred

_How could I have been such a fool._

_For you..._

(E)(C)(H)(O)(E)(S)

The plot thickens. Will Sakura kill Naruto? Will our favourite blonde let her? Find out next time on the next exciting chapter.


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